Flexible outsole.



F. M. FURBEB. FLEXIBLE OUTSOLE.

APPLIGATIQN FILED DEC 16, 1912.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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Specification of Letters latent.

Application filed December 16, 1912. Serial No. 736,997.

FLEXIBLE OUTSOLE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK M. FUR- nan, citizen of the United States,residing at Beachmont, in the county of Sufiolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFlexible Outsoles; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates. to soles for boots and shoesand moreparticularly to flexible outsoles.

Some trouble has been ex erienced in having boots and shoes rip in t eshank portion and this is due, to some extent to the stiffness of theoutsole. In securing the outsole to the shoe it is drawn up in an archat the inside of the shank and owing to its tendencyto straighten outexerts a continual pull on the line of stitches which-in time, fromthis.

and additional causes, rip.

The object of the present invention is to produce an outsole that willretain itsiarched shape at the inside of the shank and thus relieve thestrain on the stitches.

With this object in view-it is contemplated to provide the outsole witha flexible shank at the inside, and while this may be accomplished inseveral ways, it is proposed to provide the inside of the shank, on theflesh side of the sole, with one or more cuts or slits permitting thisportion of the shank to give or flex as 1t is arched when the sole isapplied to the shoe. In the preferred form 0 the invention the cuts orslits comprise a series of transverse, marginal slashes.

To the accomplishment of this object the invention comprises the novel,flexible outsole hereinafter described and defined in the appendedclaims. a

In the accompanying drawing, showing the best form of the invention atresent known, Figure 1 is a plan, showing t e flesh side of the outsole,Fig. 2 is view showin the novel outsole as applied to a shoe, whic isshown in dotted lines and Fig. 3 is a crosssection on the line 3-3 ofFig. 2.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention the outsole a, which maybe a dinked-out sole as shown or 'may be any other commercial form ofoutsole, is provided, on its flesh side with a seriesof trans,- verse,marginal slashes 6 located, at the instantially as described.

not be injured, although their depth is suflicient to sever the fiber ofthe leather in the fleshy surface of the sole. Owin to the fact that thearch at the inside of t e shank merges into a substantially straightline at the outside of the shank the necessit for flexibility decreasesas the center 0 the shank is approached. It is therefore pre ferred, inorder to obtain a better set of the outsole on the outside shank and soas not to undul weaken the outsole, to decrease the depth 0 the cut fromc to d as shown in Fig. 3. When the outsole is sewed in place the openinof the slashes b, as shown in Fig. 2, rea ily permit the necessarybending at the shank and afford suflicient flexibility to overcome thestrain present in the stiff shanks ofordinary outsoles. 1

While in the illustrated form of the-invention the cuts or slits b areshown as extending to the inside edge of the outsole, this is notessential in practising. the invention as the importance of the cuttingof the outsole resides in such treatment of the sole as will make itsmargin at the inside shank flexible and not in the particular form orposition of the cuts.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated andthe preferred embodiment of the invention having been Patented Nov. 3,1914. i

specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

' 1. As an article of manufacture, a flexible 'outsole for boots andshoes having one or more cuts or slits in its flesh side at the insideof the central portion of the shank onl leaving the outside of the shankuncut, sn

2. As an article of manufacture, a flexible outsole for boots and shoeshavin a series oftransverse slashes in its flesh side at the shankextending from the inner ed e of the sole part way across the width of te shank and part way through its thickness, substantially as described.v

outsole for boots and shoes having a series of transverse slashes in itsflesh side at the shank arranged radially with respect to the curvatureof the edge of the shank, sub stantially as described.

FREDERICK M. FURBER.

Witnesses:

CHESTER E. ROGERS, RUTH E. \VARD.

